Manned Spacecraft Center directed Air Force Space Systems Division to authorize contractors to begin the work necessary to use the Titan II in the Mercury Mark II program. - .
Nation: USA. Summary: On December 27, Martin-Baltimore received a go-ahead on the launch vehicle from the Air Force. A letter contract for 15 Gemini launch vehicles and associated aerospace ground equipment followed on January 19, 1962..

Dynasoar suborbital tests deleted from program. - .
Nation: USA. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Spacecraft: Dynasoar. Development time schedule for Dyna-Soar was reduced when DOD authorized the USAF to move directly from B-52 drop tests to unmanned and then manned orbital flights. This eliminated the previous interim stage of suborbital flights to be powered by the Titan II. This required renegotiation of the development contract held by the Martin Co. and negotiating of a new contract for a larger booster.

Gemini Launch Vehicle Configuration Control Board. - .
Nation: USA. Air Force Space Systems Division established the Gemini Launch Vehicle Configuration Control Board to draw up and put into effect procedures for approving and disapproving specifications and engineering change proposals for the Gemini launch vehicle. It formally convened for the first time on March 5, 1963.

Heated arguments over technical approach of Soviet space systems - .
Nation: USSR. Related Persons: Shatalov; Beregovoi; Severin; Mnatsakanian; Mishin. Program: Lunar L1; Soyuz; Almaz. Flight: Apollo 8. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-OK; Soyuz 7K-L1; Soyuz 7K-LOK; Soyuz 7K-S; Almaz OPS; Soyuz OB-VI; Soyuz VI. The training for the Soyuz 4 and 5 flights was completed last night. Today the crews undergo medical tests and start preparation of their flight logs/flight plans. On the return flight to Moscow Shatalov, Beregovoi, Severin, Kamanin, and Mnatsakanian get into a heated argument. The cosmonauts attack Mnatsakanian's Igla automated docking system. It limits docking manoeuvres to periods when the spacecraft are flying over the Soviet Union due to the requirement for ground stations to receive live television. The Americans worked only on the Apollo spacecraft for the last two to three years, while the Soviets have divided their efforts on no less than five spacecraft types: the L1, L3, Soyuz, Soyuz VI, and Almaz. This is all Mishin's fault...

DOS formally authorised - .
Nation: USSR. Related Persons: Mishin; Ustinov; Chelomei; Glushko; Kuznetsov. Program: Lunar L3; Almaz; Salyut. Spacecraft: Almaz OPS; Salyut 1. Ustinov called the DOS 'conspirators' to Kuibyshev Street. Mishin was sent away to Kslovodsk and Chelomei and Glushko were not invited. No one wanted to listen to any more of Glushko's diatribes about Kuznetsov's engines.

Ustinov supported presentation of the DOS concept to the Central Committee. Chelomei categorically opposed DOS and was trying to kill it through military channels. But the allure of an '18 month' station - one which would not only beat the American Skylab, but be in space in time for the 24th Party Congress - seemed too alluring. Mishin also rejected DOS, but deputies at both design bureaux supported the concept and were eager to proceed.

DOS was therefore created only when the moon project failed. Chelomei was forced to work on DOS, and it severely impacted Almaz schedules. The Salyut name was later applied to both the DOS and Almaz stations, creating the impression in the outside world that they were built by one designer.

ISS Status Report: ISS 00-63 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Gidzenko; Shepherd. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-1. More than three weeks after it was undocked and placed in a parking orbit, an unmanned Russian Progress resupply vehicle was manually redocked to the International Space Station (ISS) this morning to be used as a trash receptacle and a fuel farm by the Expedition One crew. Additional Details: ISS Status Report: ISS 00-63.

Progress M-62 (27P), approaching from below the station, docked nominally at the DC1 Docking Compartment nadir port at 3:14am EST, with automatic AO-VKA orientation antenna retraction, followed by docking probe retraction and hook closure ('sborka') at 3:23am after motion damp-out, while the ISS was in free drift. (Launched 12/23 (2:12am EST), the 27P resupply drone delivered about 2.5 tons of cargo for the ISS crews, including propellants for the Russian thrusters, fresh water, oxygen, food, spare parts, repair gear, life support and science experiment hardware. For the docking, ISS attitude control authority was handed over to Russian MCS (Motion Control System) thrusters at 11:48pm and returned to US Momentum Management at 5:06am. Starting with TV camera activation at ~2:37am (range ~8 km), the KURS TV camera display data overlay failed to show through docking despite attempts by the crew to activate the numerical display. The docking took place nominally, without violation of any joint flight rules, since Malenchenko and Whitson had all numerical data on a laptop before them. Telemetry was also available in TsUP-Moscow.) Additional Details: ISS On-Orbit Status 12/26/07.